# Wang Hao (table tennis, born 1983)

Wang Hao (Chinese: 王皓; pinyin: Wáng Hào; born December 15, 1983) is a retired Chinese table tennis player and multiple-time Olympic medallist. He is the current head coach of the Chinese Men's Table Tennis Team.
Wang became the world champion in men's singles in 2009, defeating three-time World Champion Wang Liqin 4–0. Wang was also a three-time World Cup Champion in 2007, 2008 and 2010, as well as a three-time singles silver medalist at the 2004 Summer Olympics, 2008 Summer Olympics, and the 2012 Summer Olympics. He was ranked #1 on the official ITTF world rankings for 27 consecutive months from October 2007 to December 2009. In January 2010, he was surpassed by Ma Long. In April 2011, Wang reclaimed his #1 ranking. He is known to execute the Reverse Penhold Backhand (RPB) with exceptional skill.
During his career, he appeared a record twelve times in major world competition finals. In men's singles, he won the Asian Championship, Asian Cup, Asian Games, and Chinese National Games at least once.
Wang retired from the national team at the end of 2014. As of 2023, he is the head coach of the Chinese Men's Table Tennis Team.

## Equipment

Wang used a DHS Hurricane Hao blade (a special blade for Wang called N656) with a DHS Neo Skyline III Blue Sponge for forehand and Butterfly Sriver topsheet on Bryce sponge for his backhand.

## Playing style

Wang uses a penhold grip. He is representative of a new wave of penhold players, having good attacking and defensive skills off both wings of the table. The greater freedom of the wrist involved in a penhold grip allows Wang to generate large amounts of spin on the forehand side.
Compared to most pen-hold players on the professional circuit, Wang uses the reverse-side for almost all shots on the backhand side, with the small exception of balls placed very slow and short within the table during serves. This style of using the reverse-side exclusively for the backhand was considered to be improper, and when he first joined the national team most players did not think highly of him.

## Personal life

Wang and Yan Boya met in 2010 and they married in 2013. The same year, they had a son, Wang Ruiting. Wang Hao stated he would prefer his son to not pursue table tennis.

## Achievements

* 1996: joined Jilin Provincial Table Tennis Team
* 1998: joined National Team and turned pro
* 1999 World Club Championships: Champion, team
* 1999 Asian Junior Table Tennis Championships: Champion, team; runner-up, men's singles and men's doubles
* 2000 World Club Championship: Runner-up, men's team
* 2001 Ninth National Games: Champion, men's team
* 2002 ITTF Pro Tour, Netherlands: Champion, men's singles; third, men's doubles
* 2002 ITTF Pro Tour, Egypt: Champion, men's singles; third, men's doubles
* 2003 47th World Table Tennis Championships: Runner-up, men's doubles : third, mixed doubles
* 2003 ITTF Pro Tour, Croatia: Champion, men's singles
* 2003 ITTF Pro Tour, China: Runner-up, men's singles and men's doubles
* 2003 ITTF Pro Tour, Denmark: Champion, men's doubles
* 2003 ITTF Pro Tour, Sweden: Champion, men's doubles
* 2003 Asian Table Tennis Championships: Champion, men's team and men's singles; third, men's doubles
* 2004 47th World Team Table Tennis Championships: Champion, men's team
* 2004 Olympics: Silver medal, men's singles
* 2004 World Cup: Third, men's singles
* 2004 ITTF Pro Tour, Greece: Champion, men's singles; runner-up, men's doubles
* 2004 ITTF Pro Tour, South Korea: Champion, men's doubles; runner-up, men's singles
* 2004 ITTF Pro Tour, Changchun: Champion, men's doubles; runner-up, men's singles
* 2005 48th World Table Tennis Championships: Champion, men's doubles
* 2005 Asia Cup: Champion, men's singles
* 2005 Asian Table Tennis Championships: Champion, men's team
* 2005 Qatar Open: Champion, men's doubles
* 2005 China Open: Runner-up, men's doubles (Harbin); Runner-up, men's singles (Shenzhen)
* 2005 World Cup: Runner-up, men's singles
* 2006 48th World Team Table Tennis Championships: Champion, men's team
* 2006 World Cup: Runner-up, men's singles
* 2006 ITTF Pro Tour, Slovenia: Champion, men's singles
* 2006 ITTF Pro Tour, Croatia: Champion, men's doubles
* 2006 ITTF Pro Tour, Qatar: Champion, men's doubles
* 2006 ITTF Pro Tour, Japan: Champion, men's doubles; runner-up, men's singles
* 2006 Asian Games: Champion, men's singles and team
* 2007 World Table Tennis Championships: Runner-up, men's doubles; third, men's singles
* 2007 World Cup: Champion, men's team and men's singles
* 2007 ITTF Pro Tour, Slovenia: Champion, men's singles
* 2007 ITTF Pro Tour, Croatia: Champion, men's doubles
* 2007 ITTF Pro Tour, Shenzhen: Champion, men's singles and men's doubles
* 2007 ITTF Pro Tour, Nanjing: Champion, men's doubles; runner-up, men's singles
* 2007 ITTF Pro Tour, Japan: Champion, men's singles; runner-up, men's doubles
* 2007 Asian Table Tennis Championships: Champion, men's team and men's singles; runner-up, men's doubles
* 2008 Olympics: Champion, men's team
* 2008 Olympics: Silver medal, men's singles
* 2008 World Team Table Tennis Championships: Champion, men's team
* 2008 World Cup: Champion, men's singles
* 2009 World Table Tennis Championships: Champion, men's singles and men's double with Chen Qi
* 2009 Eleventh National Games: Champion, men's singles and mixed doubles and men's team
* 2010 World Team Table Tennis Championships: Champion, men's team
* 2010 World Cup: Champion, men's singles
* 2010 Asian Games: Silver Medal, men's singles
* 2011 World Table Tennis Championships: Runner-up, men's singles; third, men's doubles
* 2011 World Cup: Runner-up, men's singles
* 2012 Olympics: Silver medal, men's singles
* 2012 Olympics: Champion, men's Team.
* 2013 World Table Tennis Championships: Runner-up, men's singles